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Little People + Food


  • Starting solids in a way that's easy and enjoyable - for both you and your baby
  • When is your baby ready for solids?
  • What's the difference between gagging and choking?
  • Things to avoid with infants and foods
  • Iron rich foods for your baby

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  • Little People + Food
  • S1: Starting your baby on solids

What's the difference between gagging and choking?

Dr Pamela Douglas22nd of Sep 20237th of Oct 2025

wide eyed toddler covered in berry juice

Do you wonder what you’d do if your baby choked while eating solids? Is gagging a sign that baby shouldn’t be given a particular food?

As a parent, you are naturally very protective of your little one. But often we worry unnecessarily about gagging when our baby is learning to eat solids. At the same time, we do need to know what foods should be avoided, and what to do if your baby really does choke.

Here are some things to remember.

  • Always be close by to watch your baby when he is eating solid foods

  • Gagging is the normal way your baby protects her airways when learning how to eat solids

  • Don’t give your baby hard small foods that could block off the airway, like peanuts, round slices of salami or sausage, or grapes

Recommended resources

Starting solids in a way that's easy and enjoyable - for both you and your baby

When is your baby ready for solids?

Things to avoid with infants and foods

Iron rich foods for your baby

Acknowledgements

I'm grateful to Professor Sophie Havighurst, Ros June, and Caroline Ma at Mindful, The University of Melbourne, for their feedback on the articles and videos in Little people + food.

Recommended resources

Click here for a video is by St John’s Ambulance, which shows you what to do if your baby is choking. Many parents also like to attend a Baby First Aid class, which includes teaching them what to do if their baby chokes.

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Things to avoid with infants and foods

toddler reaches up to bench to grab a strawberry

Aim to keep food simple, varied, abundant - and enjoyable!

In the Possums approach to little people and food, we're aim to keep an infant's relationshp with food as enjoyable, social, and relaxed as possible. For this reason, we don't offer many instructions about what not to do, since these kinds of lists and instructions are often not evidence-based and can even backfire and disrupt the relationship with food for some babies and toddlers. But in this article, we list a few things that you do need to know about, for safety.

... And there are just a few things to know about, and to avoid

Here are the…

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